page_title: Mount Keira
section_title: Walking tracks
hierarchical_section_title: Mount Keira / Flora and fauna / Walking tracks
caption_attribution_description: East cliff of Mt Keira summit plateau seen from Ring Track where it meets Mt Keira Road
context_page_description: Mount Keira is a suburb and mountain in the Illawarra region of New South Wales, Australia.
  Mount Keira is a site of significant cultural heritage for the Wodi Wodi people. The name Mount Keira derives from the Wodi Wodi name for the mountain, Geera or Djera. The first maps of the area called it Keera, later adding the 'i'. Mount Keira forms a part of the Illawarra escarpment, all of which is sacred land to the Wodi Wodi people of the wider Dharawal language group.
  The suburb of Mount Keira, a semi-rural township of Wollongong, located on the mountain's summit and southern flank.
  The summit of Mount Keira has an elevation of 464 metres above sea level that is located 4 kilometres northwest of the city of Wollongong. Its distinctive shape and proximity to Wollongong make it a major local landmark. It is noted for the views of the city from the popular summit lookout and its history of coal mining. It was formed as part of the Illawarra escarpment fold between 80 and 60 million years ago and the erosion by creeks that ensued.
context_section_description: The Mount Keira Ring Track provides walkers with a moderate 5.5-kilometre (3.4 mi) (3–5-hour) round trip. The Ring Track encircles the mountain at an average height of 250 metres. The walk can be commenced from a number of locations, including Mount Keira summit, Byarong Park, the Scout Camp and Queen Elizabeth Drive. The Ring Track can also be joined from the Mount Pleasant Track, which starts from Parrish Avenue. From Byarong Park, a picnic area with parking and an information bay, access to the Ring Track is via a short link track that runs from the northern perimeter of the picnic area to the entrance of the Girl Guide Camp road. The link track crosses the Guide Camp road and then ascends a short distance through rainforest, before joining the Ring Track. From the junction, two branches of the Ring Track ascend the mountain. The left branch gently climbs the southern flank of Mount Keira, following Mitchells Road to a saddle located at the junction of Mount Keira Road and Queen Elizabeth Drive. The right branch traverses the mountain's eastern flank, before emerging at Geordies Flat on Mount Keira Road. From Geordies Flat, the northern branch of the Ring Track climbs steadily to the junction of Mount Keira Road and Queen Elizabeth Drive. At this point, walkers can also join the Robertsons Lookout track, a short 1.2-kilometre (0.75 mi) walk that terminates at a viewpoint that takes in the Scout Camp, Mount Keira and the Illawarra coast. At Geordies Flat, a vehicle width trail leads north to Parrish avenue. Walkers combine this trail with the Ring Track and the Mount Pleasant walking track to complete a loop walk.
  Highlights of the Ring Track are rainforest and many species of unique Australian animals, including wallabies, lyrebirds, brush turkeys, echidnas. Lyrebirds are common on the southern slopes. Rain forests have a mostly open understorey, consisting of ferns and low shrubs. Weeds such as Lantana are evident where the natural environment has been disturbed. Eucalyptus forests thrive where the rain forests have been cleared but even here rainforest plants typically dominate the understorey.
  Walkers can climb from the Ring Track's southern branch to Mount Keira summit via the Dave Walsh Track, which joins the Ring Track opposite the Scout Camp Road, or from the northern branch via a branch track that emerges about halfway along Queen Elizabeth Drive. At the summit, the Dave Walsh track emerges at Five Islands Lookout. A short 200-metre (660 ft) track leads to the summit park, where there is parking, toilets and a café. With care, walkers using the short northern link to Queen Elizabeth Drive can turn left when they reach the road and walk along the road to the summit. Walkers need to exercise great caution when walking along Queen Elizabeth Road because the road is narrow and steep with blind corners that limit visibility of both cars and walkers. From Mount Keira summit, fine views of Warra to the south and Brokers Nose Promontory to the north can be seen.
  The track surface is variable. On the southern and eastern flanks, the track is reasonably well formed and the gradients are relatively steady. The northern branch is steeper and more rugged. The northern flank contains some particularly magnificent rain forests. The southern section of the track follows an early convict built road on Mount Keira, some of which is still visible. A similar feature, an early attempt to construct a carriageway, is visible west of the summit track on Mount Kembla. Also on the southern flank there is also an old telegraph camp site. The Ring Track is a locally well known and is popular with joggers, walkers and school groups. The track was rebuilt after it was damaged in 1998 by severe storms.
  The Dave Walsh Track, named after a Scout leader, climbs from Mount Keira Road opposite the Scout Camp road through a small open area of ground ferns, up the western slope of Mount Keira, to Five Islands Lookout and the Summit Track. At the Mount Keira summit, it can also be reached via a maintenance trail that leads from the carpark in Summi
caption: East summit plateau cliff seen from Ring Track
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